Robert Lellock, 43, of Beltzhoover, was arrested at a friend's home on Orangewood Avenue in Beechview shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday -- just hours before the school board accepted his resignation at a nighttime meeting.

"He was calm. He turned himself over without incident," said Lt. Kevin Kraus, of the Pittsburgh Police Department.

Lellock faces 23 charges, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and indecent assault.

He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail after being questioned at Pittsburgh police headquarters and did not comment to reporters. Bail was set Thursday morning at $1 million.

Lellock, who has worked in the district since 1990, was suspended by school officials on July 25 after a former student claimed he was sexually abuse by the officer at Arthur J. Rooney Middle School in 1999.

In the criminal complaint, authorities said there are alleged four male victims who were about 13 years old at the time of the incidents, which date back to 1998.

Police said according to one of the victims, Lellock would "pull him out of class at least once a week, and "on at least 20 occasions, Lellock would take him to the third floor room and sexually assault him."

"The psychology of somebody who hurts children is that they will reoffend. So, if you believe that a child is being hurt, you have reason to believe that somebody specifically is hurting children, then you've got to do something about it," said District Attorney Stephen Zappala.

Zappala said his office was also looking into who knew about the alleged crimes and what school officials did about them.

“The (officer) should have been taken out of service. I mean, that's the conclusion I've reached on it,” said Zappala, who has urged anyone with information to come forward.

At the Pittsburgh Public City Schools board meeting Wednesday night, the board voted to accept Lellock's resignation, which board members said was more expeditious than pursuing a termination. Boardmember Mark Bentley Sr. was the only one who voted against it.

"I do not want to be part of anything that looks like it's misleading the public or putting a great PR campaign together," Bentley said.

Superintendent Linda Lane said the district has procedures for handling allegations of misconduct.

"It is our obligation, if an allegation is made, to look into it, and that means meeting with the employee, making a decision as to whether that employee needs to be placed on leave or not. If an employee is placed on leave, then the district will conduct an investigation," said Lane.

"The other factor that is very important for parents to know is if there is an allegation of behavior, which in fact would have been illegal, then that kind of behavior would be reported to either city of Pittsburgh police or the District Attorney's Office."